Checklist for academic papers

Is that your final copy?  Have you already brought it the Writing Center?  Here’s a checklist of common mistakes that people make and that may cost points unnecessarily.

1.  Make sure you cite properly.  If it’s a book with one or two or three authors, or a text from the primary author, check the Modern Language Association handbook or Diana Hacker’s guide for writers.  If it’s an anthology like the Norton, do it in proper MLA style, following the "article from a collection" format in the style sheet:  Tolkien, J.R.R. "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" (1936) Rpt. in R.D. Fulk ed., Interpretations  of "Beowulf": A Critical Anthology. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1991.

2.  Make sure that when you end a sentence with a quotation, the quotation marks fall outside the period, in the American style, rather than inside the period, in the British style, as in this mention of the word, "sprezzatura." When you are citing a source with parentheses at the end of the sentence, however, the period does not fall inside the quotation marks, but follows the parentheses, as in this citation of a handbook’s statement that "usually the signal phrase includes the author’s name" (Hacker 326).

3.  Your title must carefully describe the paper. An academic paper is not a poem, nor a novel, nor a newspaper article. Look at scholarly articles on your topic and imitate their titles. Your keywords and primary sources must show up in the title.

4.  A Works Cited section must be properly formatted, using hanging indents rather than normal paragraph indents or flush-left style, and it must include only works you actually cite. It is different from a Bibliography, which is a list of all works consulted.

5.  Number your pages.  Typically, pages are numbered in the upper right-hand corner, in the header, justified right, with your last name and the page number (Ungar 1).

6.  Either staple your paper together, with the pages in proper order, or use paper clips.  Different professors prefer different things.

7.  If you have indulged yourself in block quotations, only indent from the left and only five spaces or one tab. In general, there is no need to quote at such length unless you are going to comment specifically on the word choice of the passage you quote. Consider paraphrase, instead, and remember that the reader has read the primary source already. Don’t belabor him/her with a recounting of the obvious facts of the text.

8.  Use a 12-point font, and don’t use anything bizarre that draws more attention to your typography than to your ideas. Give the paper 1-inch margins on all sides (Word defaults to 1.25” margins on the left and right, so you may want to change that).  Include all necessary information on the first page (name, course, professor).

Acknowledgments:

English 211 Pre-Paper-Turn-In Checklist, by Dr. Arnold Sanders, with modifications by Elizabeth Fields, 2005.

Contact Arnie Sanders c/o:

Goucher College

Van Meter Hall – Department of English

1021 Dulaney Valley Road

Baltimore, MD 21204